Alice Ford News

For Hudson Warehouse's 16th Season, they presenting a very unique adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor. This production is set in the 1960's at The Windsor Resort, a tourist hotel in the Borscht Belt of the Catskills.

 Shakespeare & Company presents William Shakespeare's madcap comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by founding company member and Director of Education, Kevin G. Coleman.

Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino brings Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor close to home with a joyous production set in a small town not unlike Stratford, Ontario, in 1953, the year the Festival began.

The McCammon Voice Competition in collaboration with Fort Worth Opera is pleased to present Angela Meade in recital on Monday, May 6 at 7:00 pm at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Auditorium. This intimate concert marks the eagerly-anticipated return of this world-renowned soprano to Fort Worth after winning first prize in the 2005 McCammon Voice Competition. Ms. Meade will be accompanied on piano by Fort Worth Opera Artistic Director and Conductor, Joe Illick. The evening's diverse program will consist of celebrated arias and art songs by Bellini, Meyerbeer, Korngold, and Strauss.

Will anyone else but Ambrogio Maestri bring the same dynamism to Robert Carsen's 1950's take on Verdi's masterpiece, FALSTAFF? Time will tell. But the return of the wonderful production, with the great Met orchestra under conductor Richard Farnes and an all-around terrific cast, brought a little sunshine into the gray winter in New York.

Baritone Ambrogio Maestri brings his larger-than-life portrayal of the title role back for the first time since his Met role debut in the 2013-14 season. Robert Carsen's insightful production-which moves the action to postwar England in the 1950s-features an exceptional cast that includes soprano Ailyn Perez as Alice Ford and soprano Golda Schultz as Nannetta.

Baritone Ambrogio Maestri brings his larger-than-life portrayal of the title role back for the first time since his Met role debut in the 2013-14 season. Robert Carsen's insightful production-which moves the action to postwar England in the 1950s-features an exceptional cast that includes soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford and soprano Golda Schultz as Nannetta.

Falstaff, Verdi's exuberant final opera, returns to the Met for performances February 22-March 16, 2019. Robert Carsen's acclaimed production moves the action from Shakespeare's era to 1950s England. Fresh off his much-lauded performance as Michonnet in the Met's Adriana Lecouvreur, Ambrogio Maestri stars as the notorious glutton Falstaff, reprising his celebrated betrayal in this production's premiere run in the 2013-14 season. The ensemble cast of merry wives and noblemen also includes Ailyn Perez as Alice Ford, Golda Schultz as Nannetta, Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly, Jennifer Johnson Cano as Meg Page, Francesco Demuro as Fenton, and Juan Jesus Rodriguez as Ford. Conductor Richard Farnes, the former longtime music director of Opera North, makes his Met debut on the podium.

Daniele Rustioni, 35, Principal Conductor of the Opera National de Lyon, will make his American orchestral conducting debut with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, January 31-February 2, 2019. Rustioni will lead the orchestra in performances of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3, Respighi's Fontane di Roma, and Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 with soloist Julian Steckel. Later in the season, Rustioni will conduct a new production of Tchaikovsky's rarely-performed The Enchantress for Opera National de Lyon, make his debut at the Teatro Real Madrid with Verdi's Falstaff, lead the Orchestra della Toscana in a three-city tour of Italy, and return to conduct the Staatsorchester Stuttgart.

Daniele Rustioni, 35, Principal Conductor of the Opera National de Lyon, will make his American orchestral conducting debut with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, January 31-February 2, 2019. Rustioni will lead the orchestra in performances of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3, Respighi's Fontane di Roma, and Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 with soloist Julian Steckel. Later in the season, Rustioni will conduct a new production of Tchaikovsky's rarely-performed The Enchantress for Opera National de Lyon, make his debut at the Teatro Real Madrid with Verdi's Falstaff, lead the Orchestra della Toscana in a three-city tour of Italy, and return to conduct the Staatsorchester Stuttgart.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) Winter Season: The Actors' Renaissance began previews this past weekend of The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, Part 1.

A deal with the devil is struck with powerful results in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele, with performances November 8 to December 1, 2018. Starring in the diabolical title role is 2018 Richard Tucker Award winner Christian Van Horn, who joins recent Tucker Award winners Angela Meade as the love interest Margherita and Michael Fabiano as the bargain-making Faust. Rounding out the cast is Jennifer Check as Helen of Troy. Not seen on the Met stage in nearly 20 years, Robert Carsen's production is conducted by Carlo Rizzi and Joseph Colaneri.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage's 2018-19 Celebrity Opera Series continues -Placido Domingo with soprano Ailyn Perez on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:30pm.  Eugene Kohn conducts the orchestra.

Puccini's La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history, returns to the repertory in the opening week of the 2018-19 season, with 11 performances of Franco Zeffirelli's beloved production from September 25. Initial performances feature three much anticipated Met debuts

Metropolitan Maestro Carlo Rizzi's 2018-19 season includes Tosca and Mefistofele at the Met, Falstaff in Tokyo, a new production of Un ballo in maschera at Welsh National Opera and symphonic concerts in Japan, Italy and Spain

The George London Foundation for Singers has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971. The foundation and the George London Awards (the prize of the foundation's annual competition) are named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century, who devoted much of his time and energy in his later years to the support and nurturing of young opera singers.

The second annual Sheen Center Theater Festival takes place June 21 to 24 at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC). Celebrating the voices of emerging and established Catholic playwrights in staged reading presentations, this year's full-length plays tell the stories of a young Nuyorican comic book artist seeking his place in the world, a Montreal family struggling with the aftermath of suicide and gun violence, and a pair of Shakespearean widows testing the freedoms and limitations of widowhood. Admission is free. Reservations are required and can be made online at www.sheencenter.org/shows/festival.   

Shakespeare's light-hearted comedy about societal hierarchies and the power of love to bring them down comes to the stage at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre. In their annual tribute to The Bard, Shakespeare '70 presents "The Merry Wives of Windsor" Fridays, June 22 and 29 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, June 23 and June 30 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, June 24 and July 1 at 2 p.m.

The George London Foundation for Singers has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971. The foundation and the George London Awards (the prize of the foundation's annual competition) are named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century, who devoted much of his time and energy in his later years to the support and nurturing of young opera singers.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced that the company's 2018 Summer Festival will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theatre in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26 through July 15 at venues throughout the region.